Welcome to My Addiction

Embarrassing as it may be, we honestly have not stepped foot into Target for what feels like a lifetime. In actual reality? Maybe a couple of weeks. We are Tarjay addicts. The truth is after all the Christmas spending was over we realized in order to afford groceries we should probably keep ourselves away from that intoxicating place. I will say that if I ever became homeless I would make my home in Target. I'd be like Natalie Portman only not living in "The WalMart", and hopefully not giving birth in the store either. That just got me thinking, if I had to give birth in Target I would choose the home section because I would hope that the setting would help prepare my baby for a life of interior design. Wow, this idea is not sounding so bad after all.

Alright, that tangent is over. No I am not writing this post to give you my life story. Really, I thought you all might be interested in the fun things I found while searching Target online. What? Shopping online is TOTALLY different than shopping in the store.

Without further adieu I introduce you to a few of my favorite things...

Banana Leaf Trunk $39.00

This storage cube of sorts is so rich and so worldly. I can imagine it in a living room, a bedroom, a playroom, even a bathroom! And the storage? Oh, the storage! Anything that can hide away the junk that clutters homes is something that makes my little heart go pitter patter. This is a must buy.

 Dupioni Fret Work Pillow $19.99

There are so many great graphic prints out there right now, but I am loving this particular pillow! It has a sense of luxury and visual appeal that makes my mouth water. I think of this as the daddy pillow, but Target even offers a mama pillow as well that is just as great.
 

Glass Lamp Base (large) $29.99

I pretty much need this lamp. Unfortunately it just wouldn't work in my bedroom like I want it to. Someone please give this beautiful lamp a great home. All it needs is a nice lamp shade, like this one here. I also think this pairs quite beautifully with the Dupioni pillow I featured above.

DwellStudio Perch Bedding Collection $79.99-99.99

Last, but never least...DwellStudio bedding. My love for all things DwellStudio is one I cannot hide. This bedding is absolutely gorgeous. I could never justify getting rid of our current bedding, but if I needed to then this beautiful set would certainly be coming home with me.

Well, there you have it. A few of my favorite finds at my favorite place. Tarjay is always a great way to buy beautiful things for your home for only a small investment. Adding just one thing that you love in your house can quickly transform a room and your mood. Even if you do not have a ton of money to spend, you can start small and eventually you will have added enough items in your room to truly make it yours. Just make sure that the things you buy for your home are truly something that you love. Have fun shopping!

1. Diaries of a Mad Homebuyer

Buying my first home has always been a dream of mine. Even when I was a young girl I would get so excited when my parents would suggest a "Sunday drive" (yes, we were one of THOSE people) where we would drive around various neighborhoods. I remember always picking a favorite and then I would dream of Joey Lawerence or one of the New Kids on the Block being my husband and we would raise our children in this beautiful home. I wonder what ever happened to that dream?

Fast forward to today. I was a hopeful home buyer ready to make my first big purchase. I went to a Mortgage Broker and fairly painlessly got myself prequalified. For those not in the know, this should always be the first step in the home buying process. If you don't know of one or you are frightened by the process of not choosing a trustworthy broker you can skip to the next step where you choose your agent. They often have mortgage brokers that they use often and know their track records.

Once I knew how much I could afford I picked an agent, which was easy considering I was married to one! Now don't worry, this is Josh's house too, but I figured my experience was a little more easy to relate to since he is an agent and does this all the time. Now if I wasn't married to such a great agent (what? I'm not partial or anything!) then this would have gone differently for me. More on this another time. I talked with Josh (ahem my agent) and we discussed what I was looking for in my first home. I had my list of "must have's" and "wants" and he in theory would then show me houses that matched that list as closely as possible. Now, my experience was different in that aspect because I see the houses on the market all the time and already knew that none of them fit my needs. We actually came about finding the house we wanted to put an offer on due to one of my random searches. Trust me, I know the second that houses go on the market because I am just that obsessed. Josh and I saw the listing for the perfect house and said right then and there "let's make an offer!" (Disclaimer- we do not recommend this to novice home buyers!) We did in fact see the house before we made the offer, but we used it as a time to take measurements of each space, inspect all the nooks and crannies, and get pictures of every aspect of the house. Again, our experience is extremely different than most.

 
We finished this part of the process by making an offer. We will go into that part along with the rest of the process in another chapter of the diary. Josh and I have also been putting together some information that we hope is helpful for those of you that may be looking at purchasing a home in the near future. Home buying is a daunting process, but we are aiming to help you out as much as we can!

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Steal of the Day

I could not believe my eyes when I was browsing Tarjay (Target) online and found a stunning replica of the Bertoia side chair. If you love modern pieces then feast your eyes upon this original beauty...

Design Within Reach  $460

And now feast your eyes on the Target version...

 Target  $125.99

(on sale from $139.99)

Can you believe this? Tarjay has really been stepping it up in their furniture department. I have been finding pretty good looking replicas of designer furniture quite a bit on their site. Just another reason to love my favorite store. Also, one of my favorite blogs, Copy Cat Chic always posts great finds so if you want to locate cheaper more economical versions of the items you love you should really check out their blog. Seriously. Do it. Now. Because I said so. 

xo,

M

More Design Crush

Although I was unable to include some proof of the swoon worthy rooms that Sarah Richardson designs on the last post, I have now added them here for your convenience. I think you will agree, they are stunning!

 

All images can be found here

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Designer Radar

Josh and I made an exciting discovery while packing away all of our belongings for our HUGE move all the way down the road (yes we are moving 1 mile away and yes I act like it's to Antarctica). For any of you that enjoy design as much as we do, please realize this is very exhilarating.

This lady puts the wind in my sails. I LOVE her like peanut butter loves jelly. It's that serious. For those of you not in the know, Sarah Richardson has top shows on HGTV Canada. Well, while I was slaving away sitting on my bum drooling over the usual HGTV shows, up pops Sarah's House. As in the best show. As in, I would move to Canada just because I truly believe her talent would rub off on me. Hey, a girl can dream. Alright, I am back from my tangent now. All this to say if you enjoy design or DIY or renovation or smart and pretty ladies, then keep your eyes out for Sarah's House. It. Won't. Disappoint. Need proof? Check out her web site full of delicious eye candy. Now if only we can figure out when the next episode is, we don't want to miss a minute!

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House Update:

We have not moved in yet and we are not keeping anything from you. We are set to move in this week, but are ready for whatever ends up happening. Thank you all for your support and kind wishes! Those who know us know that owning a home has been a dream for us and something we have been working very hard for so we are excited to embark on this new journey. We did visit the house today and it was hard not to start up on the projects right then and there. Our anticipation is growing and we can't wait to share each step with you all. And in one particular Bachelorette's words, "fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy ride!"

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The Christmas Flood of '09

The Culprit

 The Aftermath

Christmas morning consisted of quite the cold shower. A plastic piece that connected our pipe to the cold water faucet cracked exploded beyond belief and water shot out in all directions. In normal circumstances we would have turned the water shut off valve to stop the water. However, while being sprayed with Arctic water we were unable to locate the metal valves that we were used to seeing. In fact, we found out later (once our apartment manager showed up to save the day) that our valve was a small round plastic knob that was supposed to be pulled.

We learned a valuable lesson from this experience. Always know where your shut off valves are for each faucet that you have in your house, each toilet, and if you are living in a home know where the shut off valve for the entire house's water supply is as well. These are invaluable things to know. We were thankful to be renters at that time to have managers to run to, but as we move into homeownership we realize how important it is to know how to take care of things such as these.

After the floors were drenched to capacity (including the neighbors who reside below us) we had to move in with the parental units. Thankfully my parents have a big, half empty home now that all of us kids have moved out so it was a fairly easy transition. This being said I am a little behind on Christmas posts, my apologies. While we sort things out at the apartment, and pack to move (hopefully in ONE week!) we will be in and out of blogland. We do hope you all had happy holidays and that yours were much more uneventful compared to ours.